The prediction came true.
After experiencing multiple rounds of layoffs and being forced to delist, Fisker, a new American car-making force, announced in its latest submission:
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The company is preparing to file for bankruptcy.
But the words are not dead, the company said that if it can negotiate with the debtor and obtain new financing, there is still room for change.
However, Fisker has been involved in no fewer than 30 lawsuits recently, involving multiple suppliers and former employees. The content is basically the same: debts must be paid back.
Fisker, with a market value of up to US$8 billion (approximately 57.9 billion yuan) and known as the “Tesla killer”, is about to come to an end.
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Fisker's current situation: on the verge of bankruptcy and involved in multiple lawsuits
Fisker has been hit hard recently one after another.
After finally submitting the long-overdue 10-K financial report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, it stated in the document that the company was preparing to file for bankruptcy.
The reason is straightforward: no money to repay the debt.
Fisker assesses that its available liquidity will be insufficient to meet its current debt obligations for at least twelve months from the date of filing its annual report, and therefore has significant doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern.
At the same time, according to the financial report, as of December 31, 2023, the company held approximately US$1.93 billion (approximately 13.98 billion yuan) in debt, while its total assets were only US$1.83 billion (approximately 13.25 billion yuan), which can constitute insolvency.
The reason why it is “preparing to apply” is because the company feels that it can still obtain sufficient relief from creditors or seek new financing, for which the company also gives a 30-day deadline.
In other words, within 30 days, the company will begin to intensively find money for financing and negotiate with debtors. If the new financing fails or the negotiations fail, Fisker will have no choice but to go bankrupt.
However, judging from the current news, Fisker may be in trouble.
Because although there is news that Fisker CEO said that at least four car companies are willing to invest in purchasing the company's equity, they have entered the investigation and audit stage, which seems to be helpful for new financing.
But recently, Fisker has been involved in a series of lawsuits, and a bunch of creditors are asking Fisker for money. These lawsuits include:
A class action lawsuit filed by former directors and employees of the company, claiming that overtime was regularly worked without compensation and that wages due after leaving the company were not paid;
More than 30 lawsuits over Lemon Law violations, only some of which have been resolved;
Suppliers of engineering design, textiles, etc. filed arrears lawsuits. Contracts were signed but no money was paid. The unpaid amount exceeded US$8 million (approximately 57.93 million yuan). At the same time, these suppliers also demanded payment of approximately US$13 million (approximately 94.13 million yuan). Yuan) compensation;
To make matters worse, the company's cash flow has become increasingly tight. As of December 31, 2023, the company originally had US$326 million (approximately 2.36 billion yuan) in cash and cash equivalents, but by April this year, this amount became US$54 million (approximately 390 million yuan).
Fisker, enters bankruptcy countdown.
Who is Fisker
Finally, let’s briefly review Fisker.
Founder Henrik Fisker is a veteran of the automotive industry. He has been in the industry for 35 years. He has worked at BMW, Ford, and Tesla, and participated in or led the BMW Z8, BMW X5, Aston Martin DB9, and V8. The design of many classic models such as Vantage and Model S.
The current Fisker Inc. is Henrik's second venture.
As early as 2007, Henrik established the automobile company Fisker Automotive to sell plug-in hybrid vehicles. However, due to problems with delivery and capital chain, it declared bankruptcy in 2013. All assets were sold, and only the Fisker trademark was retained.
In 2016, Fisker Inc. was established, and Henrik tried to build cars again.
The first model, Ocean, is positioned as a mid-size SUV and will be unveiled in 2020. It will be sold starting at US$38,999 (approximately 282,000). In terms of positioning and price, it is basically aiming to capture Tesla's market.
In addition, Henrik himself also worked at Tesla, so the label “Tesla killer” has been with Fisker and Ocean for a long time.
In addition to features such as maneuverability (zero-to-hundred acceleration in 3.7 seconds), large battery (113kWh), and fast charging, Ocean also has a solar roof, a rotatable central control, and “California Mode” that opens all the glass in the car with one button. Differentiating selling points.
This not only raised consumers' expectations, but also helped Fisker's valuation reach US$2.9 billion (approximately 21 billion yuan) before its backdoor listing in 2020. After the listing, the market value soared to a maximum of US$8 billion (approximately 57.9 billion yuan).
But the good times did not last long, and Ocean delayed production and delivery for two years. In the first complete delivery year, 2023, only 4,929 vehicles were delivered, and the number of deliveries so far is only more than 6,400 vehicles.
Moreover, these vehicles that were finally delivered have been exposed to quality problems one after another, including but not limited to the vehicle suddenly losing power, not being able to brake, having a problem with the key, the seat sensor not being able to sense the presence of the driver, the hood popping up… and recently… The car door could not be opened and was investigated.
In addition, while Fisker was preparing for the Ocean, it was also intensively developing the development of the next two models, resulting in almost all the previous financing being spent.
Starting in March this year, the company announced a complete shutdown of production and layoffs of 15%, reducing expenditures and seeking new financing in order to survive.
However, it was later revealed that investment cooperation negotiations with an OEM failed, and the company had to lay off employees again to preserve cash.
At the same time, the capital market also began to speak out.
Since the end of last year, Fisker's stock price has been falling to around $1 per share, and has never risen since it fell below $1 at the end of January this year. The stock price was only 9 cents before being suspended by the New York Stock Exchange in March.
Originally, Fisker could appeal after receiving the suspension announcement, but the company did not do so. As a result, the New York Stock Exchange forcibly delisted all Fisker shares on April 22.
Currently, Fisker shares are transferred to the over-the-counter trading market OTCMKTS for trading. The stock price is only 5 cents, and the market value has shrunk by 99%.
At that time, after the acquisition failed and the company received a delisting warning, some investors bluntly said that it was only a matter of time before Fisker filed for bankruptcy protection. Now it is as expected.
It seems that there is another car company in the market that will go bankrupt due to its own operating problems.
It is not easy to run a car company well.